April 10, 2014
ACC Series 6: Boston College
April 11-13
7:05 p.m. / 2:05 p.m. / 1:05 p.m. (All CT)
Chicago, Ill. (Cougar Stadium – Chicago State)
Team Information:
Notre Dame: 12-20, 2-13 ACC (34-24, 10-14 BIG EAST In 2013)
Postseason: Lost to UConn in BIG EAST Final
Boston College: 10-22, 2-13 ACC (12-40, 4-25 ACC In 2013)
Postseason: Did not qualify for the ACC Tournament
Rankings:
Neither Team Is Ranked
Projected Pitching Matchups:
G1: RHP Sean Fitzgerald (3-2) vs. RHP Jeff Gorman (2-5)
G2: RHP Pat Connaughton (0-2) vs. LHP Andrew Chin (2-1)
G3: LHP Michael Hearne (1-4) vs. RHP Jeff Burke (0-4)
Series History:
ND leads 23-9
First Meeting: W, away, 9-0 (5/20/1908)
Last Meeting: L, neutral, 7-2 (3/2/2008)
Aoki vs. Boston College: First Meeting
Live Game Coverage:
Live Video: None
Live Audio: WHME 103.1 FM (Chuck Freeby, pbp) or WatchND (Links on UND.com)
Live Stats: Gametracker (Links on UND.com)
Twitter Reports: @ND Baseball / @NDsidRuss
Weather Report (as of Thursday, April 10):
Friday, April 11: 66 Degrees and Mostly Sunny
Saturday, April 12: 73 Degrees and Partly Cloudy
Sunday, April 13: 63 Degrees (80% Chance of Rain / Thunder)
More About The Pete Frates #3 Fund
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a pair of convincing non-conference wins over Chicago State (6-1) and Michigan (9-1) this week, the University of Notre Dame baseball team gets back to Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Boston College at Cougar Stadium on the campus of Chicago State University in Chicago, Ill.
The weekend series will get underway at 7:05 p.m. (CT) Friday followed by a 2:05 p.m. (CT) Saturday game and a 1:05 p.m. (CT) Sunday contest. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and seniors with all proceeds going to the Pete Frates #3 Fund.
Frates, a former BC baseball player under current Notre Dame head coach Mik Aoki, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in March 2012. Ever since the moment of diagnosis Frates has been a champion in raising awareness about the awful disease. The money collected from the weekend will go to help with his increased medical costs in addition to his awareness efforts.
Notre Dame will wear red jerseys all weekend, which will be auctioned off on UND.com following the three games with all the money raised going directly to the fund.
Anyone wishing to donate money to the Pete Frates #3 Fund that can’t make the series or doesn’t wish to participate in the jersey auction can read more about Pete and donate directly at petefrates.com.
On the diamond, the Irish (12-20, 1-14 ACC) look to carry the momentum gained from the midweek road triumphs over the Cougars and the Wolverines into the series against the Eagles (10-22, 2-13 ACC).
After hitting just .233 as a team in the season’s first 25 games, the Irish bats have heated up in the last seven games as they are batting .296. Notre Dame has recorded double-digit hits in six of those contests and boasts six players that are hitting over .300, led by sophomore Zak Kutsulis (.440) and senior Forrest Johnson (.444).
The Irish arms have continued their steady play as well, as they have lowered their team ERA to 3.35. Junior righty Scott Kerrigan is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in the team’s last seven games, while sophomore RHP Nick McCarty boasts a 1.35 ERA in 13.1 innings of work after producing a 4.89 ERA in his first 35 innings.
On the mound this weekend for the Irish will be senior RHP Sean Fitzgerald (3-2, 2.48 ERA), junior RHP Pat Connaughton (0-2, 6.89 ERA) and sophomore LHP Michael Hearne (1-4, 2.74 ERA).
Notre Dame is looking to finally get over the hump in ACC play this weekend as well after losing nine of its 14 ACC games by two runs or less and 10 by three runs or less.
Boston College has had its own struggles this season as the Eagles are just one game ahead of the Irish in the Atlantic Division, having moved in front of Notre Dame last weekend with a victory over North Carolina. The Eagles are coming off a pair of mid-week losses to Ivy League schools Dartmouth (2-1) and Harvard (6-5).
The Eagles are hitting a league-worst .225 and are next to last in team pitching with a 4.31 ERA. Sophomore outfielder Chris Shaw leads the team in average (.275) and has started all 32 games, while redshirt sophomore Andrew Chin (2.98) has a 2.98 ERA in a team-high 42.1 innings of work.
On the mound for BC will be RHP John Gorman (2-5, 4.39 ERA), LHP Chin (2-1, 2.98 ERA) and RHP Jeff Burke (0-4, 4.70 ERA).
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 23-9 and boasted a record of 22-7 when the two Catholic rivals resided in the BIG EAST Conference together.
The games will also mark the first time Aoki has faced off against his former squad, whom he led from 2007-10 as the head coach after spending three seasons as the Eagles’ pitching coach. Aoki went 114-108-1 (.513) at BC and led the Eagles to their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament (2009) since 1967. He also led them to back-to-back ACC Tournament berths before accepting the job at Notre Dame.
Fans can follow the series through Gametracker and WatchND as the voice of the Irish Chuck Freeby calls the games for WHME 103.1 FM. Links for both live stats and audio are on UND.com.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–